I write this newsletter to help clarify my own thoughts, and share it in the hopes that someone else may find their own meaning in it. Over time, however, I see more and more figures popping up on the internet, providing supposedly-concrete solutions to the problems that I’m continually trying to solve. Some of these figures are very intelligent, and seem to be providing relatively sound advice. There’s just one problem with this, however, and—if left unchecked—this problem could only serve to exacerbate the pre-existing issues that we face in the modern world. Let me explain:
An Answer to the Suffering
From a technological standpoint, right now might be the best time to be alive in the history of mankind.
Barring a super-advanced population of ancestors, we have no reason to believe that any society has ever had more access to technology than we have right now. Why then, are we still suffering on a daily basis? How can we live better lives in spite of this widespread suffering? These are complicated problems that nobody can definitively solve, but that won’t stop people online from offering answers. In many instances, such claims have given these individuals large groups of followers, drastically increasing the amount of leverage these people have access to. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, the internet has introduced me to many interesting people, including:
Andrew Huberman
Chris Williamson
Naval Ravikant
Jocko Willink
Cal Newport
Jordan Peterson
Tim Ferriss
Ryan Holiday
These are all people whose advice has served me well. The problem lies in the fact that this advice—however helpful it might be—is the exact same advice that has been shared with the billions of others that access the internet. Why exactly is this bad?
Talking Through the Audience
The internet has enabled ideas to be shared on an unprecedented scale. This is nothing short of a miracle, but—in the context of sharing advice—the one-size-fits-all nature of this information gives rise to several of potential problems:
People take the wrong advice for their current situation and/or misinterpret advice, both of which can lead to undesirable outcomes.
People search far and wide for advice that resonates with them, only for the vast sea of opinions to cancel one another out, leaving the person confused, frustrated, and exactly where they started.
People are so desperate for fulfilment and purpose that they’re vulnerable to being misguided by online information, regardless of the initial intentions of any given creator. This phenomenon isn’t limited to the internet—it could also apply to books, music, or any other mass-marketed information—but the scale and immediacy of the internet greatly increase the possibility for widespread harm.
We saw this with the rise of Andrew Tate. He certainly said many stupid things, but I don’t believe he would have gained such popularity unless some of what he said (implicitly or otherwise) was truthful enough to resonate with people. The problem lies in the fact that most of Tate’s target audience aren’t mature enough to differentiate between useful advice and sensationalised attention-farming. Whether or not you’d like to admit it, we’re all vulnerable to this trap. The internet provides you with ample opportunity to falsify reality, both intentionally and accidentally; without learning to overcome this, we remain slaves not only to The Algorithm, but to our own impulses and weaknesses.
What’s The Solution?
In my view, there’s only one way out of this: in an age where we have more information than knowledge, the obligation falls on the individual to selectively integrate others’ input into their lives. Of course, this still leaves us vulnerable to fooling ourselves, but at least we’re less likely to be fooled by others. Perhaps—much like our discussion last week—the only way to set yourself apart is not only to pursue excellence, but to develop the necessary judgement required to properly orient this pursuit.
Never stop thinking.
- Will